Redhead
by halfsies101
Summary: Natasha Romanoff. The small girl with an awful backstory. But can this new foster home save her before she spirals out of control? Starts out based around Natasha but MAY CHANGE. kid!Natasha because nobody has done this. Rated T for child abuse and also because I'm paranoid
1. Chapter 1: Redhead

**A.N. This is my first fic ever, so please go easy on me. I got the idea to write this from Ariel96's story, You Can Trust Me, so I'm sorry if there are similarities, I tried to avoid those. Anyway, this fic focuses on Natasha, because nobody seems to write about her and she's my favourite character.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or anything Marvel related. If I did, I would be writing scripts, not fanfics.**

She grimaced. The man holding her was holding her wrists unnecessarily tightly, but no was was she going to complain. She didn't need to give him a reason to be mad at her. They walked up to the front door of the house. The potted plants by the front door were exactly the same fiery-red colour as her hair. The man rang the doorbell, and she could hear it ringing inside. The door opened, and there was a woman standing there.

"Here she is," the man holding her said. "Natasha Romanoff, age eleven." The woman smiled, it was a warm smile, and it instantly out Natasha at ease. Suddenly, a man was standing beside her. He was taller than her, with blonde hair, and friendly eyes. Natasha almost smiled at him, but then she remembered. Men were not to be trusted. At any point they would whip around and hurt her. She didn't want that. The woman frowned at the guard.

"Don't you think you're holding her a bit too tight? She's just a kid." The guard shook his head. "I'm not taking any chances. I've been told redhead here has a criminal record." The woman looked angry. Natasha winced, but the anger wasn't directed towards her. "That is no was to talk about a child," she almost shouted. "Especially one right in front of you!" She stopped shouting when she noticed Natasha shaking. She hated shouting. Shouting meant that someone was mad, and when someone was mad, she usually got hurt. The man put his hand in his wife's shoulder.

"Calm down," he said quietly. "You're scaring her." At this point, the guard decided his work was done. He started walking back down the driveway, to the car. "If you have any trouble with her, call us!" He then left. The woman smiled warmly to Natasha. "Do you have a suitcase?" Natasha shook her head. Everything she had was either lost or stolen. "That's alright, the man said. "We'll take you shopping in the morning. Natasha nodded, trying to seem emotionless. Maybe then they would send her back. They walked in, and two people came barreling down the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2: Preparations

Skye looked at her computer. The kids were listed like dogs at a shelter, each with a photo and a blurb about them. As she scrolled, she saw a flash of red hair. She went back up. Natasha Romanoff, eleven years old. She had been rescued from an abusive home in Russia, then been arrested for assault of a police officer. Skye looked at the photo of the tiny, pale girl. No way this kid assaulted a grown man. She had anxiety, panic attacks, and violent outbursts. Still, Skye knew this girl would be perfect.

"Lincoln, could you come down here for a second?" she called to her husband. Since adopting the twins a few years ago, they wanted to adopt another kid. Lincoln came down the stairs, his hair wet and a toothbrush in one hand.

"What's up?" She pointed excitedly to the screen. "I found her!" Lincoln gazed at the screen. "She's perfect."

That night at the dinner table, they brought it up with their kids. Wanda squealed with delight. "A little sister! Finally!" Pietro scowled. "I wanted a brother." Lincoln shot him a pointed look from across the table. "Every kid deserves a family, no matter what gender." Pietro nodded and went back to trying to stab a meatball with his fork. The next few days were spent in flurried preparations for their new addition. Wanda happily agreed to decorate her room, while Pietro put himself in charge of toys. He poked his head into Natasha's room to-be. He had a list in his hand.

"I've got dolls, colouring books, playdough, what else do little girls like?" Wanda looked at him in disbelief. "She's eleven, bro, not six! Try books and paper and sewing and sports." Pietro looked at her for a moment, then slapped his forehead. "Duh!" He then turned and ran back to his room. Wanda just shook her head and laughed to herself. Boys sure were idiots sometimes. Before Natasha's furniture was moved in, Wanda had to pick a colour scheme.

"Pietro!" she called to him. "I need your help with something!" Pietro came over to the door. "What's up baby sis?" Wanda sighed in frustration. "First of all, I am not your baby sister." Pietro laughed. "You can't prove that!" Wanda slapped her hand down on the hardwood. "Focus!" she said. Pietro snapped to attention, putting his hand to his forehead in a mock salute. "Yes ma'am!" Wanda slapped her forehead. "I need help with the colours." Pietro walked over. "What are our options?" Wanda showed him some colour pallets. 'Either lilac and green or grey and red." Pietro pointed to the grey and red. "This one, definitely." Wanda smiled. "Thanks Pietro." she said. "That's what big brothers are for!" He said as he walked out. "You are NOT my big brother!" she shouted after him.


	3. Chapter 3: A First Look

The doorbell rang. The whole house tensed. Skye and Lincoln got up from the table. Wanda and Pietro put down their playing cards. Then, the door opened. Wanda and Pietro stood at the top of the stairs, fighting for a glimpse of their new little sister. Of course, they already knew what she looked like. They had already read her file. The twins couldn't help but be horrified at it. Her history included drugs, kidnapping, neglect, prison, and physical and sexual abuse. Pietro almost cried. Wanda _did_ cry. She was eleven. No more than a baby. Yet she had witnessed things that would make full grown adults shudder. They had both resolved that as long as they were alive, they would do everything in their power to make sure the rest of her life was perfect.

Finally, the she came in. She was smaller than she appeared in the picture. She was about five feet tall, with waist length red hair tied back in a ponytail. The twins couldn't contain themselves. They came running down the stairs, full force. As soon as they got to the bottom, they regretted it. Natasha hid behind Skye, whimpering. Skye put an arm around her. Finally, she came out. Wanda stuck out her hand.

"Hey, I'm Wanda!" Natasha tentatively shook her hand. When Pietro introduced himself, though, she went back to hiding, refusing to look at him. Wanda put her hand on her brother's shoulder. She looked at him He understood. Natasha probably wouldn't be comfortable around men. Skye decided to break the ice. "Wanda, Pietro, why don't you show Natasha her room?" She looked down at the little girl. "They designed it for you." Natasha nodded.

Staying as far away from Pietro as possible, she followed Natasha up the stairs. The first room they passed had a bed with dark blue sheets. A few books were sitting on a desk near it. The next room was definetly Wanda's room. The walls were pale pink, and the furniture was dark brown. The desk had paint all over it. Finally, they came to her room. Pietro stood in the hallway, while Wanda stood in the doorway and watched Natasha explore her room.

The furniture was brown, like Wanda's, but the walls were light grey. The blanket was a flannel pattern of grey and red. Some red pillows stood on the bed, and a fuzzy grey mat was on the floor. Natasha went around her room, slowly looking at everything. She opened the closet, every drawer in the dresser, and every drawer on the desk. Then, she sat on the ground and looked at everything. "Do you like it?" Wanda asked. Natasha didn't say anything, but the look on her face spoke volumes. Pietro poked his head in the door.

"Wanda designed the whole thing!" As soon as he spoke, Natasha tensed. She stood up, and took a step back. Pietro saw this, and quickly left. Wanda took a step towards Natasha, and she took a step back. "I'm not going to hurt you," she said calmly, "and neither is Pietro." Natasha seemed to calm down. Wanda looked for anything to distract her. "Did you see those paintings in the hallway?" she asked. Natasha nodded. "Pietro painted those." Natasha's eyes widened, and she smiled. "That one with the birds took him like, three weeks to paint." Natasha could see why. It was a beautiful painting, birds flying over a lake.

"C-could I learn to paint like that?" Natasha said quietly. Wanda lit up. "Of course you can!"

 **Okay, I know this is a lot of chapters all at once, but I have a bunch pre-written and I really want to get to the exciting parts. By the way, if you have a prompt you would like to see written, tell it too me, I love new ideas/**

That night at the dinner table, nobody said much. Everybody was far to interested in the little redhead. She cleared her plate in record time, as if afraid that someone was going to take it from her. Finally, she spoke up.

"Can I have another piece of bread?" As soon as she spoke, she tensed, like someone was going to hit her. "Absolutely!" Lincoln said. "You can have as much as you like!" Natasha reached out and took another piece of bread, quickly. Wanda nudged Natasha. "Didn't you have something you wanted to ask Pietro?" Natasha nodded. "Could you teach me how to paint?" Pietro smiled.

"Definitely!" he said. "You're going to be the best painter ever!" Natasha smiled. Skye and Lincoln watched the kids as Pietro rambled on about how famous Natasha was going to be, and how many paintings she was going to sell someday. They loved their new addition, and they were pretty sure the kids loved her too.


	4. Chapter 4: An Almost Disastrous Day

**Okay, this is a very long chapter by my standards. I just really like writing this so I don't really have a schedule for it. Sorry. :)**

 **Guest: You opinion is valid, I know I need to work on my writing, and I think Ariel96 is a bit busy with her fanfics. I will try to improve my writing though.**

 **Temo: Thanks, and I should have mentioned, though this fanfiction is called Redhead, it doesn't just focus on Natasha. I also want to work on my other characters, but yes, I will try to devote more time to her. Also. thanks for sticking up for me. I appreciate it.**

A few days later, when Skye went in to check on Natasha one morning, she wasn't there. Her bed was neatly made. The room was picture perfect. Skye went through the house, waking everyone in a state of panic. Pietro woke to Skye shaking him roughly.

"What happened?" he asked groggily. "Is someone dead?" Skye shook her head. "I can't find Natasha." Pietro was instantly awake. As much as the girl was afraid of him, he had grown to care about her. Everyone was up when he left his room. Then, Wanda paused.

"Is that, bacon?" Everyone stopped and sniffed. Wanda was right. Bacon was frying downstairs. They all went slowly down. When they got to the kitchen, they found Natasha standing at the stove, frying bacon. At the sound of their steps, she whipped around, burning her wrist on the frying pan.

"Did I wake you up?' she asked, sounding terrified. "I'm so sorry, I was just making breakfast and it got kind of loud and…" Lincoln cut her off.

"This is great, Natasha. Thanks." Natasha smiled as everyone sat down at the table. Natasha had made french toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Pietro and Wanda fought over the last slice of bacon.

"You always get more bacon!" "Last time you got the last slice!" "No I didn't, you did!". Natasha decided to settle it and grabbed the slice. She flashed them a mischievous smile.

"Those who battle for gain may risk loss of all." she said. "You could have shared, then you would both have some." Wanda and Pietro sat sullenly as they watched Natasha eat the bacon. Finally, Skye spoke up.

"We have some shopping to do today." Natasha brightened. "For me?" Skye nodded. "For you." Wanda cheered. "I'm going to come too." Skye raised an eyebrow. "Alright, but nothing for you." Wanda nodded.

When they finally got to the mall, Natasha was amazed. She had never seen so many flashing lights and moving people. She felt almost scared. She grabbed Wanda's hand, and Wanda squeezed her back. They went straight to the kids section for pajamas. Unlike when Skye first got Wanda, Natasha ran around the store, picking up whatever she liked. Skye and Wanda leaned against a shelf, debating over whether to get her winter boots or not, not watching Natasha. She had wandered off to the other side of the store, looking at dresses. She found one she liked, and looked around for Skye or Wanda. They weren't there. _Keep calm,_ she thought to herself. _They're probably just behind a display._ She walked around quietly, growing more anxious with each step.

"Wanda? Skye? Where are you?" She looked around, frenzied. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, and a man was standing behind her. She screamed.

Wanda heard an ear piercing scream from the other side of the store. Everyone else in the section, mostly mothers and their kids, looked up in alarm. Wanda recognised that scream. She shook Skye's arm.

"That's Natasha!" Skye ran with her to where they heard the scream from. They found Natasha backed up into a corner, a crowd of concerned people around her. Wanda broke through the crowd and rushed to her side. "Natasha," she said calmly. "I'm here." Natasha was crying. Large tears rolled down her face.

"I l-looked for y-you," she said between sobs. "You weren't there." Wanda hugged her. She never wanted to let her go again. She and Natasha walked back through the crowd. When they got back to Skye, she had already paid for the stuff, so they could leave. The car ride home was silent, Wanda had opted to sit in the back with Natasha. Natasha sat very still, looking out the window. The belt cut into her neck, so Wanda reached over to adjust it. As soon as Natasha saw her hand, she flinched and moved further away. Wanda drew her hand back, and sighed. Would she ever be comfortable around people again? Suddenly, Wanda had a worrying thought. School started in less than two weeks. How would this shy little girl be able to cope?

Back home, Pietro was thinking of the same thing. Twintuition, or whatever. He was looking at backpacks on amazon, trying to find one for Natasha. She was going to be starting sixth grade. Middle school. He and Wanda were in high school. Natasha was going to have to fend for herself in a new environment where she knew exactly nobody. He didn't know what Natasha liked, so he settled on a black high sierra bag with red decals. It would match her room. His phone rang. He picked it up, angrily.

"Hello?" From the other side, a female voice spoke. "Yeesh, Pietro, calm down." He relaxed. It was one of his friends, Jemma. "Oh, it's you." "Well you don't have to be so rude about it." Pietro smiled. His British friend was hilarious when she was angry, because she could never bring herself to actually insult someone.

"So, is your new little sister here yet?" she asked, excitedly. "Yup, except she's terrified of me." He could feel Jemma frown on the other side. "It's an issue with all guys, not just me." he cleared up. "So where's Wanda?" Pietro heard the front door open. "Actually, she just got home." He heard someone running up the stairs, and a flash of red hair and black sweater went past his door. He heard a door slam.

"Hey Jemma?" he asked. "I kind of have to go." He hung up before she could say anything. Wanda also rushed past his door, but her's didn't close. Good. When Wanda was upset, the whole house was upset. Still, a house with an upset girl was not ideal for a guy like him. He had to do something. He already knew what Wanda was like when she was upset. She would barricade herself in her room and blast loud music. Natasha, on the other hand, he knew nothing about. This made her unpredictable, and unpredictable was scary. So he grabbed his paint set and quietly walked through the hallway, and knocked on Natasha's door. An angry cry of "Come in!" was returned, and he slowly opened the door.

"What's up Nat?" he said, quietly. Natasha turned and looked at him. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "You said you wanted to paint, so here I am," he said, holding up his set. Natasha motioned for him to come in, and he slowly came in. The room was still impeccably clean, the bed made, floors spotless, bookshelf arranged. Frankly, he wondered if she actually slept here or not. Natasha sat down on the hardwood, and motioned for him to sit. She took the paint set and spread the materials out in front of them.

"So what do I do now?" Pietro smiled. "Now," he said, picking up a paintbrush, "you paint." He took a light grey and began painting a background, while Natasha watched. After a few minutes of watching him paint a mountain scene, she moved to pick up a paintbrush. As she reached for it, her sleeve rode up a little, revealing a burn mark. "Where did you get that?" he asked, pointing to it. "The frying pan, this morning." she said calmly, and started painting a light blue butterfly on her paper. Pietro put his paintbrush down and stood up.

"Come on, we have to get Mom or Dad to take a look at that." Natasha just shrugged and followed him. They came down the stairs. Skye had left for a late shift at the law firm where she worked, so they approached Lincoln. "Hey dad?" Pietro called out. Lincoln came from the kitchen. "What's wrong sport?" he said. Natasha pulled her sleeve up and showed him the burn. Lincoln's eyes widened. "That looks really bad. Why didn't you tell us?" She shrugged.

"This is nothing. I've gotten wayy worse." Lincoln took her to the kitchen where he put cream and a wrap over it. "Don't touch it," he warned her. "Yeah yeah, I know." As they went up the stairs, Pietro looked at her. It had only been a few days since she arrived, but she had already turned from a shy little girl who wouldn't shake his hand to a feisty little girl full of as much fire and life as her bright red hair. He decided to leave Natasha to paint, and knocked on his twin's door. When he didn't get a reply, he opened the door. He saw Wanda at her desk, scribbling away on a piece of paper.

"What's that? He asked. She looked up at him. "It's an apology for Natasha." Pietro looked confused for a moment. Wanda looked exasperated. "I lost her in Aeropostale and she had a panic attack or something and now I have to go give this to her so get out of my way!" she said, standing up. Pietro was a bit taken aback, but he moved anyway. He watched Wanda walk down the hallway, and knock on Natasha's door. Then, deciding his services weren't needed anymore, he went downstairs to make himself nachos.

Wanda knocked on Natasha's door. Natasha opened the door. She was looking at the painting in her hand.

"Hey Pietro, I was having some trouble with layering the background…" She looked up, and stopped. Wanda smiled warmly, but Natasha turned away. "Go away, I don't want you here." She then closed the door in Wanda's face.

"Wait but…" Wanda's plea was left unanswered. She slid the letter under the door, and walked away.


	5. Chapter 5: A Hiding Place

**I know I don't really have an updating schedule, I can't really determine how much time I have to write, so these chapters are kind of just going to come out when I finish them.**

 **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS KIND OF GRAPHIC ASSAULT OF A MINOR. I WILL MARK OUT THIS POINT SO IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH SUCH TOPICS YOU CAN SKIP IT. Thanks for your consideration.**

Natasha sat down quietly, looking at her painting. She had absentmindedly painted the house of one of her previous foster homes.. Only one of her homes was nice. A single dad had taken her into his home, and she had never forgotten what he taught her. She was about nine when she first met him. Mike Peterson, and his son Ace. Ace, being a few years older than her, taught her to defend herself physically against whatever the world would throw at her. Mike taught her to defend herself mentally. Ace showed her things like how to escape from a dog attack and how to take down an attacker, while Mike taught her to control her anger and try to put herself in other people's shoes. Everything was great, until Mike died in an explosion and she, as well as Ace, were put into foster care. She hadn't seen him since.

 _Ace sat in the corner of the house, hugging her tightly. Police had broken down the door, and were searching the house for them. They had holed up in the closet, behind some boxes. Ace held her close, while she gripped her favourite stuffed animal, a rabbit named Peter. Suddenly, the door to the closet swung wide open. Natasha screamed. Ace moved in front of her, while the police officer shone a bright light down on them._

" _I found the kids!" he shouted to his teammates. Ace glared at him._

" _Don't you dare touch her!" he almost shouted. Natasha shook behind him. The light hurt her eyes after being trapped in the closet for so long. She started to cry. Ace reached behind him and put a hand on her shoulder, still glaring at the cop. The officer knelt down beside them._

" _Hey, it's okay. I'm here to help you." he said calmly. Natasha still didn't trust him. Her last encounter with police had been awful. She had been ripped away from everyone and everything she had ever known. She was happy here. She didn't want that to happen again._

Natasha started to cry. She pushed herself back against the wall, and banged her fists in the side of them bed. She was shaking and crying. Why couldn't she have just stayed with the mean people? Sure, life wasn't so comfortable, but at least it was predictable. Obey and get food, disobey and get hurt. Here, you obey, and you still end up getting hurt. She picked up the bottle of red paint, and dumped it all over her painting. Then, she crawled in between her desk and the wall. As she sat there, she realised that she quite liked that spot. It was quiet, and the heater was just above, so it was warm. She was hidden from the view of anyone who came in. If only she and Ace had found a spot like this one, where they could have been warm and safe and hidden.

 _Ace still sat defensively in front of her. The cop reached into his pocket, and pulled out two little caramels. Natasha's eyes widened. This house was mainly sugar free. She hadn't had a caramel in years. He held them out. Ace took them both, then cautiously handed one back to Natasha. She unwrapped the crinkly gold wrapper, and quickly stuck it in her mouth. Ace was a little slower. He looked at the cop suspiciously._

" _You didn't put sleeping drugs, or anything in them, did you?" he asked. The cop laughed. It was a warm, jolly laugh. Then he reached into his pocket for his wallet. He pulled out a photo, and showed it to them. The photo was of him, a woman, and two small boys._

" _That's my family right there." he said. "My wife and my two wonderful sons. Do you really think I would drug two kids?". He laughed again. Ace smiled. He crawled out from the closet. The police man took his hand, and Ace held tight to hers. Together, they walked out._

Wanda came into the room. She looked the the spilled paint and the marks on the wall.

"Natasha?" she called. "Natasha? Where are you?" Natasha later realised that the smartest decision at this point would have been to come out. Instead, she listened quietly to Wanda rousing the whole house. They were searching downstairs, when finally Natasha decided to come out. She moved to her bed, and sat there with a book. Wanda came upstairs, and saw her as she passed her room. She ran in and hugged her.

"Where were you? We were so worried!" she said, distraught. Natasha shrugged.

"I was somewhere." Wanda looked at her in confusion, but decided to let it go for now. In that moment, she was just happy to have her little sister back. Even if she didn't really go anywhere.

 _She and Ace sat on the porch steps of their house. He still held his wrapped caramel, while she had long since finished hers. The cop came over to them. He knelt in front of them, and took a deep breath._

" _Kids," he said slowly. "Your father is dead." Ace looked at him with wide eyes._

" _No!" he shouted. "You're lying! He can't be dead!" Natasha wrapped her arms around his chest. The cop just sighed._

" _Child services will be here in a few minutes to get you guys." Then he walked away._

" _Wait!" Natasha called after him. The cop stopped and turned around. "Will they separate Ace and me?" He shrugged. "That's entirely up to them." Natasha knew, in that moment, she would never see Ace again._

Pietro rushed in.

"Did you find her? Is she okay?" His eyes settled on Natasha wrapped in Wanda's arms. "Oh. Looks like to you finally made up." he said with a smile. Natasha looked up at him in confusion.

"Made up about what?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong?" Wanda smiled.

"Its nothing. I'm just glad you're here." She curled her fingers around Natasha's.

 _Ace held Natasha's hand, their fingers intertwined. The social worker had just arrived. He was sort of tall, with black hair and beady eyes. He spotted them, and immediately walked over. He flashed his child services badge to the cops, then looked both of them over._

" _Hello, I'm your social worker, John Garrett." Natasha didn't like him. She scowled at him, and his face darkened._

" _You brat!" he whispered to her. "I'm only here to help you out, so you'd better-" A police man walked over to them, and Garrett immediately put on a brighter face. "Well kids, I'm sorry, but we have to leave now." he said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. Another car pulled up, and a woman climbed out. She looked nice. She had long, dark brown hair, and walked over in a way that instantly put Natasha at ease._

" _Hello!" she called over. She had a Spanish accent_ _ **(A.N I feel like including that is somehow racist so if you take offense to that, sorry)**_ _and a smile. "I'm Elena Rodriguez." she said looking down at them. "Now which one of you is Ace?" Ace smiled._

" _That's me!" he said excitedly. Elena smiled back at him. "I'm going to be your social worker, okay?" Ace nodded, then frowned. He turned to Garrett. "If she's our social worker, then who are you?" he questioned. Garrett gave a joking laugh._

" _She's your social worker. I'm Natasha's." he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Natasha piped up._

" _Does that mean we won't be placed together?" she asked, nervous. Elena knelt in front of her._

" _I know this is hard to hear," she began, "We'll try to put you together but since your not really sibli-" she was cut off by Garrett. "We have to go now," he said, grabbing her arm roughly. Elena grabbed his. "She's just a kid!" she scolded. "No need to hold her so hard." Garrett released her. "Let's go." he said, walking towards his car. She followed him, and looked back at Ace. He was talking with Elena. Natasha started to cry. He was going to forget her and she was never going to see him again and he would find a new family with a new little sister to take care of and teach to defend herself and take to the toy store and sneak cookies before dinner with and play hide and seek with sheets in the kitchen and read stories to before bed when Mike was busy… She was never going to see him again._

 _She got in the car and put in her seat belt. Suddenly, something fell out of her pocket. It was gold and shiny and it made a crinkly noise when it hit the seat. It was a caramel. Ace's caramel. He hadn't forgotten her. Garrett climbed into the front seat, and wordlessly they drove off._

 ** _TRIGGER WARNING STARTS HERE_**

 _Everything was great, until Natasha looked out the window and realised that they weren't going to the child's center. They were going up into the hills, civilization was getting scarcer and scarcer._

" _Where are we going? She said sleepily to Garrett. He didn't respond, just kept driving. He turned off onto a dirt road, and stopped the car. "What are we doing?" she said, more awake now. He climbed into the backseat._

" _We're just having a little fun before I drop you off." Natasha recognized that tone. She started to shake. "Not again, not again, not again," she whispered to herself. His hand went up her shirt. In her hand, she clutched the small golden caramel, wishing this was over._

 ** _TRIGGER WARNING ENDS HERE_**

Natasha just cried. She had never thought that maybe she should have told someone until now. Now was kind of late though. They wouldn't do anything now. It was late, almost two in the morning. Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. Wanda opened it, in pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Her face was stricken with worry.

"Are you okay?" she asked tentatively. "I heard you crying." Natasha buried her face in her pillow. Wanda came and sat on the bed beside her. She picked Natasha up and held her as she cried. Lincoln had done the same for her when she was little. "Do you want to talk about it?" Natasha shook her head, then paused, and nodded. Wanda wrapped her up in her blanket, and sat beside her.

"There's something that happened, with my old social worker…"

 **So! That was interesting. I will get justice for Natasha.**


	6. Chapter 6: Revelation

**Hey! No, I'm not dead. I'm so sorry for not posting in a while, my baby sister was born a few months ago so I've been EXTREMELY busy. I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have to write, but as soon as I finish a chapter I will post it. Onto other things, I said I will get justice for Natasha and that will come soon, just not yet. Enjoy this extremely short chapter!**

Wanda was in frustrated tears by the end of Natasha's story. She was nine years old. Nine. Barely more than a baby.

"Did you ever report it?" she asked quietly. Natasha shook he head.

"What's the point? Nobody would believe me anyway." she replied sadly. Wanda wrapped her in a huge hug. "Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?" she asked quietly. Natasha smiled and nodded. "I would like that."

That morning, Skye was home for breakfast. The kids were overjoyed. At least, Pietro was. As he loaded his plate with pancakes and Lincoln and Skye chatted over coffee, Wanda couldn't keep her mind off of Natasha. What kind of monster would hurt a kid like that? What kind of monster would hurt a kid in general? She was almost shaking with suppressed rage. She had to do something. Today was her best chance. Both Skye and Lincoln were home today, which was a rare occurrence. She looked at Natasha sitting next to her. She had bags under her eyes and was paler than usual. She was barely touching the buttered pancakes and bacon in front of her. Wanda nudged her.  
"You have to eat, Natasha." Natasha picked up her fork and took a slow bite of bacon. Couldn't Wanda see that she just couldn't eat today? Wanda was going to out her. Definitely. Then Lincoln and Skye were going to send her away and this would all restart. She couldn't deal with this again. She liked it here. Sure, Skye wasn't around as much as she would like, but Wanda was there, and Lincoln and Pietro. She had found a place that she liked, and it was all going to end.

Finally, Skye set down her mug and stood up. Lincoln looked at her and also stood up. Lincoln motioned to Natasha.

"Can you come with us?" Natasha's head snapped up. She glanced at Wanda imploringly.

"Can Wanda come too?" Lincoln smiled. "Of course she can." Wanda took Natasha's hand as they moved to the living room. Wanda could feel Natasha shaking. She squeezed her hand, and Natasha looked up at her. Skye and Lincoln sat down on the large couch. Skye motioned Wanda and Natasha to sit on the loveseat. Natasha leaned into Wanda. Wanda smiled. Skye opened her mouth to say something, but before she could say anything, Natasha cut her off.

"I have to tell you something," She shrunk back in to Wanda. Lincoln and Skye looked at each other quizzically. "Sure, but we have something really important." Wanda looked down at Natasha.

"Are you sure you want to?" she asked. Natasha nodded. I have to tell them sometime." She took a deep breath and clutched Wanda's hand.

"About two years ago, my foster dad died in an explosion." she said quietly. Skye opened her mouth to say something, but Natasha shushed her. "Can I just finish please?" she asked. Skye nodded.

"My foster brother and I had been at home, playing, monopoly, I think, when we heard the police outside." She paused, and looked at Wanda. She smiled reassuringly, and Natasha went on.

"My brother, Ace, hid us in a closet, until a cop found us. He gave us each a caramel, so we wouldn't be afraid of him." She smiled at this part. "The only nice cop I've ever met." She pulled a small golden candy from her pocket.

"This one was Ace's. He gave his to me. Then my social worker showed up. He was mean." Wanda tensed at this part. She knew what was coming next. "He grabbed me and took me to his car. I tried to say goodbye to Ace, but he was talking with his social worker." Once again Skye tried to say something, but Lincoln squeezed her hand and she stopped.

Natasha started to cry. Wanda wrapped her in a hug, and Natasha wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve. "I don't know where we went next, somewhere up in the mountains, trees and stuff, definitely not a foster home," Lincoln raised an eyebrow.

"H-he forced me to…" Nobody wanted to hear more. Natasha buried her face in the couch cushion, sobbing. Lincoln felt sick. He had only known the little girl for a few days, but he had grown attached to her fast. He wanted to find this "social worker" of hers and beat him to a pulp for what he did to her. Or at least, put his face on a punching bag. **(A.N. Someone will recognise that)**

Skye got up and left the room. She barely knew the kid. All she knew about Natasha was what was on her file. Her file clearly didn't cover everything. An alarm went off on her watch. She had to go in to work. She shut it off. All of a sudden, her job at S.H.I.E.L.D didn't seem so important any more. She had decided to take in this kid, and she had to be around more.

Skye walked back into the room slowly. She sat down on the couch beside Lincoln, and he put his arm around her.

"Natasha…" she said, unsure of what to say next. Natasha looked up. She brushed her hair back from her face, and dried her face with her shirt sleeve.

"You had something to tell me?" she asked, her voice cracking. Lincoln looked at her quizzically. "You called me here for something, what is it?" she finished. Lincoln smiled.

"Well," he began, pausing, "We signed you up for school!" Natasha grinned. "Really?" she almost yelled. "I haven't gone to school for like, two years!" She jumped up and grabbed Wanda's hand. "We have to go get pencils, and erasers, and a backpack, and a water bottle, can we get a red one?" she squealed as she dragged Wanda out of the room.

Skye watched them go up the stairs, then leaned into Lincoln.

"What are we going to do?" Lincoln sighed. He never thought that something like this could happen. Awful social workers only existed in movies, and books, and badly made fanfictions.

"I guess we have to report this," he said quietly. Skye started to cry. "How could someone do something like that? To a little kid?" she said, suddenly furious. "How could anyone let him around kids? Let alone responsible for their safety? This is unbelievable!" she said, standing up. Lincoln stood next to her.

"You're right, we have to do something, but yelling isn't going to get us anywhere." He reached into his pocket for his cell phone.

Natasha sat on her bed quietly. Spread out in front of her were school supplies she and Wanda had collected from around the house. Wanda was sitting beside her, with two packs of Crayola markers.

"Okay Nat, do you want the regular or the metallic ones?" Natasha looked at her, shocked. "What? What happened?" Natasha smiled.

"You called me Nat. Nobody has ever called me that before." Before Wanda could say anything, Natasha grabbed the markers out of her hands. "Twenty markers is better than ten, Wanda."

 **Great! Now everyone's disappointed because they expected something better from this chapter. Sorry.**


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